The second day of action at Roland Garros is the first full day of tennis in the French Open with all of the courts in use as the first round of the tournament continues in Paris. Sunday gave us an entertaining start to the tournament and Monday will hopefully provide more of the same.
We saw some big names on Sunday and we get even more on Monday as the big names get their campaigns underway in both singles draws so we should be in for a really good day of tennis.
Day 1 Recap
It didn’t take long for the first major shock of the tournament to come along when the world number one Angelique Kerber was dumped out in straight sets by Ekaterina Makarova.
It was an up and down day for our bets as we won with Tommy Robredo who came through in four sets against Dan Evans but we lost with Julia Boserup who offered little against Petra Kvitova but it meant a profitable start to the tournament for us.
Philippe Chatrier Court
The defending women’s champion Garbine Muguruza begins her title defence first up on the main court when she hosts the former champion Francesca Schiavone. They are followed by the defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic. His first match is against Marcel Granollers.
Kiki Mladenovic will be looking to thrill the home crowds when she faces Jennifer Brady in the third match on the top court with the action concluding with the Rome Masters champion Alexander Zverev going up against Fernando Verdasco.
Suzanne Lenglen Court
Caroline Wozniacki is in action first up on the second court when she faces the Australian player Jaimee Fourlis. All eyes will be on the men’s favourite Rafael Nadal in the second match but the crowds will be mixed as he faces a Frenchman in the form of Benoit Paire.
Women’s number two seed Karolina Pliskova is third up on this court. She has a tricky looking test against Saisai Zheng before the action concludes with Richard Gasquet beginning his tournament against Arthur De Greef.
Court 1
Gilles Simon takes on Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first match on Court 1 on Monday before Paul-Henri Mathieu goes up against David Goffin. Sam Stosur meets Kristina Kucova in the third match on the court with the last game seeing Irina Khromacheva faces Pauline Parmentier.
Court 2
Milos Raonic will be looking to make it into the second round when he plays Steve Darcis first up on Court 2. Kiki Bertens meets Ajla Tomljanovic in the second game with an interesting match between Ernests Gulbis and Marin Cilic following them. The last match sees French woman Alize Lim playing Magda Linette.
Best of the Rest
Those who have tickets for the outside courts on Monday certainly won’t be short changed as there are plenty of big names out on show. Daria Gavrilova, former finalist Sara Errani, Pablo Cuevas, Elena Vesnina and Fabio Fognini are just some of the seeded players playing around the grounds on the second day of the tournament.
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Betting
I like two bets in each draw on Monday. In the men’s draw I’m surprised Jared Donaldson is odds against to see off Pierre-Hugues Herbert out on Court 3. I accept the doubles star will have the crowds behind him but for me Donaldson is the better player and his recent results have been much more appealing than Herbert’s. Herbert can get bogged down on serve too which I don’t like so I’m with the American there.
The other bet I like in the men’s draw sees Janko Tipsarevic taking on Joao Sousa and I like the Serbian there. Although he has only been producing at Challenger level recently he has been winning tennis matches and climbing the world rankings as a result. Sousa hasn’t won a main tour match since Monte Carlo and in truth looks to be fading although the surface could have something to do with that. On clay I favour Tipsarevic to continue his good form.
In the women’s draw I’m going to take the former finalist Sara Errani to see off a potentially unfit Misaki Doi. Even if there were no fitness concerns I would be content to take the Italian. Doi has had an injury problem in recent times while Errani breezed through qualifying for this tournament. She can take advantage of that with a win in this match and one which is likely to come in straight sets.
Beatriz Maia has a big future in the game and the way she qualified for this tournament highlighted that but I’m not sure she is at the stage of her career yet where she should be the favourite against an established star like Elena Vesnina. Vesnina prefers the faster courts it must be said but she knows her way around a clay court and I think her experience could be vital here. This is the Brazilian’s Grand Slam debut so she might feel a few nerves so at odds against Vesnina is good value to see off the young star.
Tips
Back J.Donaldson to beat P-H.Herbert for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with NetBet
Back him here:
Back J.Tipsarevic to beat J.Sousa for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back S.Errani (-3.5 games) to beat M.Doi for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Paddy Power
Back her here:
WON – Back E.Vesnina to beat B-H.Maia for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
Back her here:
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